[Federal Register: August 18, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 159)]
[Notices]
[Page 51319-51320]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr18au04-72]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Availability of the Final Restoration Plan and
Environmental Assessment for the Certus, Inc. Chemical Spill Natural
Resource Damage Assessment in Tazewell County, VA
AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), on behalf of the
Department of the Interior (DOI) and the Commonwealth of Virginia
(jointly referred to as the Trustees), announces the release of the
Final Restoration Plan and Environmental Assessment (RP/EA) for the
Certus, Inc. Chemical Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment in
Tazewell County, Virginia. The final RP/EA describes the Trustees'
proposal to restore natural resources injured as a result of a release
of hazardous substances.
DATES: August 15, 2004.
ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the final RP/EA may be made to: U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, Virginia Field Office, 6669 Short Lane,
Gloucester, Virginia 23061.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Schmerfeld, U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, 6669 Short Lane, Gloucester, Virginia 23061.
Interested parties may also call 804-693-6694, extension 107, for
further information.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 27, 1998, a tanker truck
overturned on U.S. Route 460 in Tazewell County, Virginia. The truck
released approximately 1,350 gallons of Octocure 554-revised, a rubber
accelerant, into an unnamed tributary about 530 feet from its
confluence with the Clinch River. The spill turned the river a snowy
white color and caused a significant fish kill. The spill also killed
most aquatic benthic invertebrates for about 7 miles downstream and
destroyed one of the last two known remaining reproducing populations
of the endangered tan riffleshell mussel. A consent decree was entered
with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia,
Abingdon Division, by the United States and Certus, Inc. on April 7,
2003, to address natural resource damages resulting from the 1998
release. The consent decree stipulates that settlement funds are to be
``* * * managed by the DOI for the joint benefit and use of the Federal
and State Trustees to plan, perform, monitor and oversee native,
[[Page 51320]]
freshwater mussel restoration projects within the Clinch River
watershed * * *''
Under the authority of the Comprehensive Response, Compensation and
Liability Act of 1980, as amended (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. 9601 et. seq.,
``natural resource trustees may assess damages to natural resources
resulting from a discharge of oil or a release of a hazardous substance
* * * and may seek to recover those damages.'' Natural resource damage
assessments (NRDA) are separate from the cleanup actions undertaken at
a hazardous waste or spill site, and provide a process whereby the
natural resource trustees can determine the proper compensation to the
public for injury to natural resources. The natural resource damage
assessment process seeks to: (1) Determine whether injury to, or loss
of, trust resources has occurred; (2) ascertain the magnitude of the
injury or loss; (3) calculate the appropriate compensation for the
injury, including the cost of restoration; and (4) develop a
restoration plan that will restore, rehabilitate, replace, and/or
acquire equivalent resources for those resources that were injured or
lost.
This final RP/EA has been developed by the Trustees in order to
address and evaluate restoration alternatives related to natural
resource injuries within the Clinch River watershed. The purpose of
this RP/EA is to implement restoration actions that will restore,
rehabilitate, replace, and/or acquire natural resources and the
services provided by those resources that approximate those injured as
a result of the spill using funds collected as natural resource damages
for injuries, pursuant to the CERCLA. This final RP/EA describes the
affected environment, identifies potential restoration alternatives and
their plausible environmental consequences, and describes the proposed
preferred alternative.
Section 111(i) of the CERCLA requires natural resource trustees to
develop a restoration plan prior to allocating recoveries to implement
restoration actions, and to obtain public comment on that plan. Under
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Federal agencies must
identify and evaluate environmental impacts that may result from
Federal actions. This final RP/EA has integrated CERCLA and NEPA
requirements by summarizing the affected environment, describing the
purpose and need for action, and selecting and describing the preferred
restoration activities and including public comment.
This final RP/EA will be available to interested members of the
public, natural resource Trustees, other affected Federal or State
agencies or Native American tribes upon request.
Author: The primary author of this notice is John Schmerfeld, U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service, Virginia Field Office, 6669 Short Lane,
Gloucester, Virginia 23061.
Authority: The authority for this action is the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 as
amended, commonly known as Superfund (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.), and
the NRDA Regulations found at 43 CFR, part 11.
Dated: August 11, 2004.
Thomas J. Healy,
Acting Regional Director, Region 5, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Department of the Interior, Designated Authorized Official.
[FR Doc. 04-18918 Filed 8-17-04; 8:45 am]
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